Canada Two students may be unable to vote after Elections Ontario mix-up

23:05 06 june 2018

23:05 06 june 2018 Source:
cbc.ca

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After weeks of fighting to cast their ballots, two students say they may be unable to vote in Ontario 's provincial election because of misinformation sent out by the province's elections agency. In May — with weeks to go before election day — Alexandre

Two students may be unable to vote after Elections Ontario mix - up . And the Green Party finished a distant but historic fourth, taking two seats — in Guelph and Parry Sound-Muskoka — with leader Mike Schreiner winning his electoral district of Guelph.

After weeks of fighting to cast their ballots, two students say they may be unable to vote in Ontario's provincial election because of misinformation sent out by the province's elections agency.

In May — with weeks to go before election day — Alexandre Richer-Brulé and Amaru Anderson looked up the special rules that apply to voting while away from home. The couple lives and studies in London, Ont., but had moved to Ottawa for summer work.

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After weeks of fighting to cast their ballots, two students say they may be unable to vote in Ontario 's provincial election because of misinformation sent out by the province's elections agency.

Voting . How to Vote . Voter Registration. Electoral District Maps and Information. Voting When You're Away From Home. If you are unable to vote at an advance voting location or on election day, or are temporarily living outside of Ontario , you may be eligible to vote by special ballot.

"Having experience with the on-campus special ballots project during the last federal election, I knew that voting as a student away from home was a complicated process and required extra work," Richer-Brulé said.

They had two options, according to the Elections Ontario website: mail in a ballot or vote at a special returning office. They elected to go with option number two.

But when they arrived at the University of Ottawa special ballot office last Wednesday, they were told they couldn't vote in any returning office outside of London — information not made clear on the web page they consulted, which has since been rewritten.

They were directed to the returning office in the Vanier neighbourhood of Ottawa, where a staffer told them to call the special ballot program hotline at Elections Ontario's head office in Toronto.

Kathleen Wynne is expected on Saturday to acknowledge that she will no longer be premier after the June 7 election and encourage voters to elect Liberal candidates to prevent the NDP or PCs from securing a majority, CBC News has learned. The Liberal leader has, until today, been defiant in the face of daunting poll numbers that suggest the Grits could lose official party status after the vote. In Ontario, parties need at least eight seats in the Legislature to be formally recognized.

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When Anderson spoke to head office on the phone, she said the employee didn't know the rules governing their situation and told the couple to vote at the Vanier office.

As she tried to explain that they had just been blocked from voting there, Anderson said the elections staffer interrupted her by saying, "Is it my turn to talk now?"

Anderson said that "unforgivably rude" encounter prompted them to call their local office in London. They were asked to provide copies of their identification in exchange for special ballot voting kits that would be sent by express mail to arrive by June 2.

The packages haven't arrived yet and the Elections Ontario offices have said they are unable to offer further help.

Richer-Brulé and Anderson are now waiting to see if their special ballots arrive in time for the 6 p.m. Thursday deadline to cast their votes — after being told by elections officers it's the only way remaining for them to vote.

The Ontario election is now two days away.. and some residents may still be confused as to how and where they're supposed to vote . Both Wynne and Horwath have made commitments to making university and college education more accessible to students .

If you are unable to attend your voting location on election day, there are several ways you can vote by special ballot. I own two properties in Ontario . A voter can only vote in the electoral district that they consider home. Some voters may get more than one Voter Information Card, however by law a

Both of them have voted in past provincial and federal elections without problems, and both said they were surprised at how unprepared Elections Ontario was to deal with students in their situation.

"It blows my mind. You've have four years to prepare for this," Anderson said.

Elections Ontario says situation is uncommon

It's not the first time students have been blocked from the polls because of geographic complications.

In 2014, some Montreal university students from out of province had issues voting in the Quebec election because they hadn't lived in the province for the six months required to cast a ballot.

Elections Ontario said it couldn't speak to the specifics of Anderson and Richer-Brulé's case, but added such cases are not normally a problem.

"Students living away from home can choose to vote in the electoral district where they permanently reside or in the electoral district in which they are temporarily living to attend school. Because of this flexibility, the example you provided is not a common problem for students," Cara Des Granges, a spokesperson, said in an email.

Ottawa woman flooded with calls after Elections Ontario phone number mix-up Nancy Westran says her cell phone has been flooded with calls for help after voter information cards went out in May.

For those that will be unable to vote on June 7, advance polling stations open Saturday and will remain open until May 30. Elections Ontario is using an Assistive Voting Technology device that will allow voters to listen to Doug Ford: York U students the only victims of strike. 00:48. Andrea Horwath.

Share: After weeks of fighting to cast their ballots, two students say they may be unable to vote in Ontario 's provincial election because of misinformation sent out by the province's elections agency. After weeks of fighting to cast their ballots, two

She recommended the two contact the special ballot team, as there might be a possibility for them to vote in person in Ottawa. They explained they've already tried that option.

Anderson and Richer-Brulé aren't the only ones anxious to vote.

About 768,895 of 10.2 million eligible voters cast ballots at advance polls between May 26 and June 1, according to preliminary figures released by Elections Ontario. That's an 18.8 per cent increase over 2014, when an estimated 647,261 voters turned up at advance polls.

With statistics like that, the couple said they wonder how many other students struggled to vote.

"How do they expect young voters to vote when most of us are in positions like that?" Anderson questioned.

"It makes me feel like our democratic process is not democratic."

The electoral game: What would Ontario results look like under a different voting system? .
Doug Ford's Progressive Conservatives scored a convincing win in last week's Ontario election, taking 61 per cent of the seats — but with only 40 per cent of the vote. That outcome would look dramatically different using a different voting system. Meanwhile the third-place Liberals, who got 20 per cent of the vote, earned just six per cent of the seats.

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For those that will be unable to vote on June 7, advance polling stations open Saturday and will remain open until May 30. Elections Ontario is using an Assistive Voting Technology device that will allow voters to listen to Doug Ford: York U students the only victims of strike. 00:48. Andrea Horwath.

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Share: After weeks of fighting to cast their ballots, two students say they may be unable to vote in Ontario 's provincial election because of misinformation sent out by the province's elections agency. After weeks of fighting to cast their ballots, two

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